


365

by IamR



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamR/pseuds/IamR
Summary: When Penelope Park leaves the Salvatore Boarding School and moves to Belgium with her parents, she changes her number, deletes all her social media accounts and cuts ties with everybody, who isn't part of her new life. Her way of coping with the breakup.Josie also tries to cope, tries to get over Penelope, but instead of avoiding her, she keeps texting her. One massage a day, for a whole year. 365 days. 365 messages, before she finally feels like she has gotten over the raven-haired girl.But what happenes when Penelope comes back to the US, reactivating her old number, receiving all those messages?
Relationships: Penelope Park & Josie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	1. #1 - The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hello everybody! I had an idea and just started writing. While this will be a multichapter, the chapters will only be short. Not much will happen, since most of them will only be text messages from Josie to Penelope. But who knows?

Penelope Park was 14 years old when she first met Josie Saltzman. Her parents were traveling a lot and didn’t really have time for her, so they thought sending her across the country would be a good idea. Penelope was never a fan of the boarding school concept. Learning and living with the same people 24/7. But when she first set foot in the Salvatore Boarding School, she was welcomed by the most beautiful girl, she had ever seen. Josie Saltzman. Her parents went back to their car as fast as possible, leaving her behind, but suddenly the thought of being without them wasn’t that bad anymore. It didn’t take her very long to make some good friends. A boy, with a grin wider than it should be physically possible. A girl, even lonelier than Penelope herself, sarcastic, funny, truthful. And then there was Josie. Always standing in the shadow of her twin sister Lizzie. Lizzie Saltzman was annoying, loud, always over the top. But she still was Josie’s sister, and the constant banter with her was refreshing. Penelope’s way of staying on the ball.

When she was 15 years old, she realized that Josie and she were not only just friends, but a lot more. There were butterflies, red cheeks, awkward staring, longing looks, soft touches, which weren’t always just innocent. Endless nights of talking turned into endless nights of kissing. It was perfect, at least for some time. When Penelope was certain, that she would marry Josie one day, that she was her one and only, her once in a lifetime, her one true love, everything slowly went down the stream. Lizzie was constantly interfering. At first, it was okay. She needed her sister. When Alaric Saltzman was too busy being the headmaster of the school to care for his daughters, and the two girls were basically on their own. Josie had to split her time, Penelope here, Lizzie there. Leaving no room for herself, continuously falling further into her sister’s shadow. For the moment, Penelope was too selfish to take a step back, constantly complaining about Lizzie, making Josie feel bad. But one day she finally looked at Josie and realized what Lizzie and she were doing to her. The bags under her eyes, the missing glow in her eyes, the obvious exhaustion written all over her features, the slow, dull movements of her weak looking body, the smile that wouldn’t reach her eyes anymore.

When Penelope turned 16, she decided to do something. Josie would always choose her sister over Penelope, but Penelope was still too selfish, to just keep being pushed back because of Lizzie Saltzman. So, she broke up with Josie. While everybody else thought Penelope had chosen the easiest way, it was actually the hardest thing she ever had to do. But Josie needed time for herself, she deserved the same chances as every other teenager at the school to become her own person, the best version of herself. But Josie was devastated after the breakup. It was too out of the blue, too unexpected. Josie hated things and situations she wasn’t prepared for, and to be honest, how was she supposed to prepare for the love of her life breaking up with her? The answer was simple, she couldn’t. So, the breakup hit her hard, harder than Penelope intended to. But it was what was best for Josie, she would thank her one day. At least that was what Penelope told herself every day, every night.

When Penelope was 17, her parents called Alaric Saltzman. A job in Belgium. Too lucrative to turn down the offer of her dad’s boss. So, Penelope eventually had four days. Four days to say goodbye to her best friends, to wish them only the best. Four days to again and again and again watch Josie, how she was still trying to figure out what she did wrong, why Penelope broke up with her, why she wasn’t enough. And that was all she did. Making sure her friends would keep an eye on Josie, while she would be making new but less important friends across the ocean.

When she arrived in Belgium, she thought that it was time to leave her old life behind, to slowly get over Josie, to forget about the mess she had caused back at the Salvatore Boarding School. So, she changed her number, deleted all her social media accounts, cut ties with everyone who wasn’t part of her new life. Trying to cope, trying to survive, trying to maybe feel less pain someday.

“So, Penelope is obviously living her best life”, Josie said, when she looked on the blank page that was once Penelope’s Instagram profile. _This page does no longer exist_ , was written in large black letters where once Penelope’s name was. One week passed, before Josie took out her phone, texting her ex, silently hoping for any kind of response, just anything that would show her, that she still cared about her. But nothing. Not one single word. So, she texted her again. And again. And again. For a whole year, 365 days. Just one message a day. While Penelope tried to stay alive by avoiding everything painful, that was Josie’s way of getting over the raven-haired girl, who she once called hers.


	2. #2 - Not Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all! A short chapter. I don't know when I'll be able to post a new chapter, since I won't be at home for the next four to five weeks. :(
> 
> However, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and see y'all soon. :)

Josie was heart broken, when the green-eyed girl broke up with her. Without a proper warning, without showing any signs in advance. Signs like being unhappy, or just something that would have led Josie to the conclusion that Penelope was about to break up with her. Weeks after the breakup, Josie was still trying to figure out what she did wrong, what the reason was, why she was condemned to once again feel like she wasn’t enough. It was like she would never be enough for anyone. Her mother died during the twin’s birth, okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly her fault, but Josie always felt like Lizzie and her maybe hadn’t been enough for Jo to fight for her life. She would always feel bad thinking like that, but she couldn’t stop the thought from crossing her mind from time to time. She hadn’t been enough when Hope Mikaelson stopped being friends with her. She hadn’t been enough for Alaric Saltzman, who mostly spend his time on school matters … or Hope Mikaelson. She hadn’t been enough for her stepmother Caroline, who decided to live in Europe because a job offer seemed more pleasing than spending time with her stepdaughters. And finally, she obviously wasn’t enough for Penelope Park. Of course, loosing her mother before she even got to know her was the worst thing ever, but if she had to pick one out of the rest, being left by Penelope would probably be the second worst thing ever. Simply because it was so unexpected. Penelope was always putting her first, she was looking at her with this expression in her eyes, that Josie couldn’t describe with words. But it was giving her the feeling of being safe, of being able to do and get anything she wanted, of being someone’s first priority, of finally being … just enough.

So, it hit hard, when Penelope left her. “It’s not because I don’t love you, JoJo”, she explained, her face covered in tears, “but you need to learn how to love yourself first. One day this’ll all make sense.” Well, it didn’t. At least not for Josie. Penelope loved her, but she still left. Like everyone else. She knew that Penelope was talking about Lizzie. But Lizzie was her sister, her twin, the only one who would never leave her. She was there when Jo died, when Hope stopped talking to them, when Caroline left for Europe, when Alaric was not able to make time for them. So, how was she supposed to not give it back and dedicate the same amount of time to her? Why couldn’t anyone see that Lizzie would do the same in return, whenever Josie needed her?

But the worst part wasn’t even the breakup. The worst part wasn’t Penelope constantly lurking around the school halls, watching Josie, making her still feel special in some weird kind of way. How she would longingly look at her, how she would talk about Josie like she was still Penelope’s, how she would start random arguments with Lizzie whenever she wasn’t treating Josie the way Penelope thought was right.

No, the worst part was seeing Penelope actually leaving the school. A memory, Josie probably wouldn’t forget like ever. It was the night after Miss Mystic Falls. Josie had lost. On purpose. To make Lizzie happy, not because she wanted to.

When Penelope gave a note to her days before the pageant, she was too stubborn to even consider reading it. She immediately threw it in the drawer of her desk, trying to forget about it as fast as possible. And when Penelope started showing up literally everywhere at the day of the pageant, Josie wasn’t even thinking about the meaning of Penelope’s clinging. It was just so typical for her, just so … Penelope. However, she went back to her room, trying to think about a possible reason why Penelope was so vehemently trying to get her to read that stupid note. And when she did, she finally started connecting the dots. Penelope was leaving her once and for all. Not only her, but everyone and everything. So, she ran. She ran down the hallways, looking in every room, every corner, just wanting to find the raven-haired girl. And there she was, standing in front of the big fireplace, a suitcase right next to her, ready to leave, without saying goodbye.

Josie’s heart was beating fast. Faster than it probably should, like it would jump out her chest any minute. She tried to catch her breath, tried to doesn’t look like her world was about to stop spinning the moment Penelope would walk out the school. For a moment both girls were just looking at each other, and Josie tried to take in as much as she could, to make sure to remember even the smallest things about Penelope’s face. The thought of losing Penelope once and for all caused her to choke up for a second. She wasn’t able to say the magic words, Penelope probably wanted to hear, wasn’t able to make her stay, to do or say something, just anything. So, Penelope kissed her one last time. A kiss so simple, but so full of meaning, so full of emotions, of unspoken things, of secretly felt feeling, truly one for the ages.

And then she left. 

One week after the raven-haired girl had left the Salvatore Boarding School, Josie send her a text massage. The first of many, the first step of getting over Penelope Park.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language. :-)  
> Feel free to comment, I appreciate all kinds of advice and criticism.


End file.
